5th Dec. 2008
My ride to Goa started on 5th December when I first met Anoop at hotel in Andheri. Funny thing was I never had seen Anoop neither he had seen me , and we both were seating on our bikes at parking lot right next to each other, waiting for Prasad to show up. Alright So coming back to Goa ride, on that night, we met to plan our Goa ride as Anoop is the local boy, who knows Goa in and out and moreover he was taking care of our stay at Goa. And how wonderfully he managed it ! Bravo !
So while we were finalising on route to Goa and accommodation , I was virtually in Goa in my mind. Thats why this year Journey to Goa started so early for me.
OK, so route discussed and planned.
24th Dec 2008
We met again at Carter Road ( Rocket launcher site ) just to finalise last minutes plans and halts and anything urgent if there is any. I'm sure Everybody was as anxious & excited as I was at that time , to ride to Goa. Just as expected Anoop was so excited that he offered to ride to Goa on that night itself. Oye Paaji ..... CONTROL YAAR !
27th Dec. 2008
I'm sure Nobody slept at the night of 26th Dec. 27th Dec. The day we start riding to Goa has arrived. Initially we planned to gather at Vashi at 5.00 am, and leave for Goa sharp at 5.30 am. Ashish , Gauresh, Chandrabhan,Nilesh were already there when I reached the first meeting point at 5.05 am. I said wow, guy are punctual. But Anoop and Andre were not there, neither Shariq and Sudu. Hmmm...... Got message that Andre's Bike got punctured and Shariq , Sudu got stuck at Police checking. Not bad at all, that means we all r leaving Vashi bit late , just like we do everytime. That means this trip will be also successful like every time. Logic hai boss !
All five of them joined us. And we started our ride. Hey Hey..... it was Nilesh's B'day and before starting our bikes , everybody wished him his B'day and Also eat some cake .. ha ha.... bhukkad sale !
Some surprise was on it's way to Nilesh !
Biggest surprise was to see Kunal at Vashi. He came there to see us off. WOW..... What a gesture ! He could not make it to Goa, B'coz of few problems in office, but I'm sure his heart came with us to Goa. we all were really touched. So our first official Ashvamedh ride started with 8 bikes Ashish – Chandrabhan- Shariq – Gauresh – Andre – Anoop – Nilesh – Myself. Himanshu & Bhupesh with Noor & Roullah ( Ashvamedh's guests from Lebonon ) were to join us at Khed.
Again a Good Omen – Nilesh , Andre, Gauresh took right turn instead of left turn at panvel. That means Guys are still behaving normal, and it's good sign for all the riders. Ha ha ! Anyway, they quickly corrected their way and again joined us at Next Junction towards Goa. Not Bad !
First Stop at Vadkhal Naka – Man we all needed that first break , all were freezing in that morning cold and everybody were feeling hungry. Time for some Garam Garam Chai and Vada Pav. While we had our tea break , few guys took pee break ( nice one ). Ok, so as a custom in India we went for our pee break in open air near to bus stand. Few local girls were coming from opposite direction towards bus stand to catch bus, and Chandrabhan had just started his leak , “Chayla , Saamne se ladki log aa raha hai” Can you imagine , how this poor guy was trying to hide his modesty ? Funny........
Bills paid, and we looked at our watches..... We are already 1 hour off official schedule. That means we are on schedule. Logic hai Boss ! It means Everything is so far normal. Now we decided to take break at Khed ( Bharne Phata ) to meet Himanshu & Bhupesh With Noor and Roullah.
Once we started to climb Kasheli Ghat , memories of last year Goa ride started playing in minds. How immensely we enjoyed last year ride and how we felt proud about ourselves after climbing kasheli ghat in 4th gear. So we had to stop at highest point of Kasheli ghat. Exactly at the same point , where we had taken halt last year. We took small break for chai and decided to proceed. Anoop was heading the pack with great control on his brand new bull. He kept on riding looking back at us , ensuring everybody is following him. Before the ride we had decided that leader will always look into his rear view mirror, to ensure his fellow riders are following him. But Anoop had taken this instruction too seriously. Not for a single moment he saw his rear view mirror, Instead he kept turning back and looked for his mates at high speed. Dangerous. And when I asked him, why do he keeps looking back, he said, “arrey yaar mirror dekhne ko bore hota hai, isliye direct dekhta hun” Logic hai boss !! Himanshu's number was still unreachable at that time and we were in dilemma, as to how to contact Himanshu, as our Lebanese guests were with them. Anyway, we decided to proceed to Khed and wait for Himanshu and Bhupesh. Shariq our official photographer for the ride and creative guy Sudu, went bit ahead to search for a point, from where they can photograph the individual rider. Photo session also done and in next half an hour we were at Bharne Phata. We again looked at our watches .... wow..... we are running just half an hour late. But where is Himanshu and Bhupesh , who were suppose to join us from Pune ? No contact as of now. We decided to wait for them. Guys who were hungry went to have some snacks and few of us kept waiting for fellow riders. Finally Himanshu called , told us that it will take them half an hour more to reach the spot. We again decided to wait for them. Finally They reached Khed.... full two hours late. We understood from them that before taking Goa Route they first visited Mahabaleshwar and then came to Khed. Wah Wah...kya baat hai..... Guys are waiting hungry under hot sun and these guys went to mahabaleshwar. “Ladkiyon se na milo tum, ladkiya to hai balaye, subah shaam mat karo tum, ladki ..ladki...ladkiiiii.......” Silver lining in this waiting game was one liners by our own Naughty Professor and drummerboy Sudu, Which kept our spirits on high. Very seriously I'm thinking of including a section called Chandra's Believe it Or Not in our upcoming website. This guy has son much of information on weird things like sex shows, ladyboys... sometimes it's almost unbelievable and sometime it sounds Gory .... AGHORY..... ha ha ! Anyway The best thing Himanshu and his team did was ,they brought some ripe strawberries with them for us.
So again we Started our ride and decided to take lunch break at Chiplun. Anoop suggested some hotel , which was not bad at all. Very few of us were hungry , so we decided to have lunch , and shariq , sudu , bhupesh ordered for lassi. Ha ha, Lassi came with strawberry flavour. Noor Also had Ordered for Sweet lassi , and Chandrabhan suggested them that instead of having lassi they should drink Solkadhi , local appetizer, as yogurt may not be good. So Ashish had Chaas and Noor had Solkadhi. While Shariq did not like Strawberry Flavoured lassi neither Bhupesh, so ultimately I hade to drink three glasses of Strawberry lassi. While we ordered for our food, Chandrabhan started his dossier on spiritual things and Rudraksh with Noor and Roullah ( We all are very much convinced by now that this little lady survives on sun light or Solar energy ) , so coming back to the gyan of Rudraksh by Our own Naughty Professor Mr. Chandrabhan , These two Lebanese girls got really impressed with his knowledge on the things. “CHANDRAAAA....... ummmm......... Nice...veryyyy veryyyyy Nice !”
Here comes one more pleasant surprise. Shakti . This guy was suppose to meet us directly at Goa, but somehow he managed catch us at chiplun. Wow, I don't know, how he micro managed his timing. But it was really very pleasant surprise for all of us. Yup momentum is gathering, All the buddies getting togather once again.
Next stop would be Ganapati Phule. From Sangameshwar to Ganapati phule. Ok , we started our ride. Same thing happened again, me ,Bhupesh, shariq missed right turn for ganapati phule and went to Ratnagiri Junction. It's a way to coastal Highway. Others stopped at the turn. We came back there , to notice that Chandrabhan and Bhupesh went straight on Ganapatiphule road. Hmmmm, we did it again ! Never mind, We informed Chandrabhan that we are taking coastal highway and reaching ganapati phule in next half an hour. Instead I reached Ganapati Phule and met Chandrabhan and Bhupesh on their way back and others took halt at Some very scenic spot , where they started their photo shoot. Ratnagiri was so near and our night halt was at Ratnagiri, so we informed others to proceed for Ratnagiri and we will meet them at the hotel.
Tragedy struck us again. Something happened to Chandrabhan's Bull and it stopped midway. Pitch dark , Clear sky, nothing in sight for long long distance , except road, and little Lebanese girl Roullah trying to understand whats going wrong. After lot of efforts bull denied us any hope, so I carried Roullah back to city hotel and Bhupesh , Shakti waited for help with Chandrabhan. Meanwhile, with great presence of mind, Anoop caught hold of a mechanic and after a brief telcon with mechanic, Chandrabhan was able to start his bull, and all three of them joined us in Ratnagiri at Hotel.
Time for some Masti now , as everybody got freshened up. Shakti went in hurry somewhere out, came back clean shaven. “Ladki ....ladki..... Ladkiiiiiii !!” Anoop and Ashish got much needed alcohol from some wine shop , and opened up a bar inside one room. Pay and Take your booze. Nice arrangement. So Everybody had their share of booze by now. Noor went to bed quickly, Probably she could not handle such long journey on bike in hot weather. Roullah was giving us company. Time for surprise to Nilesh ! Here comes his B'day cake. Happy B'day Nilesh with Chocolate cake. Time for a Video of celebrations and it came out to be hot adult video. Now It's upto Shariq how he presents this video to the world. Ha ha !
Few of us were sitting outside, under sky in cool weather. Few nostalgic moments. Suddenly Shakti Started asking for Beer. Ummm, at 12.30 midnight , where would we get Beer for shakti ? Tried all the possibilities , but could not arrange. Actually Shakti had ordered his own beer , but somebody just Dhapofied it. And I think it was Himanshu. Doesn't matter. We enjoyed it , and as night was fallen dark and we had to leave early next morning, lot of us resorted to bed.
Drama did not stopped here. At 1.00 am I noticed that Anoop, Nilesh, Gauresh are no where to be traced. I took security with me and started searching for them. Found Nilesh and Gauresh in Parking lot sleeping beside their bikes. What a place dudes. Gauresh was down and out , so me and Nilesh decided to lift this creature and put it in one of the room. Man... he appears a thin guy, but booze had made him heaviest person I have ever lifted. Time was 2.30 am. Then some Pav bhaji episode happened , which I can not mention here , but later in our trip we had a nice laugh about it. Where is Anoop ? He kept his word , of sleeping under the sky with shining stars. This bugger went to Ratnagiri fort in the night , probably at 1.00 am , found a place and slept there for a night. I tell you, this guy is total freak.
SO THIS CONCLUDES OUR FIRST EVENTFUL DAY OF OFFICIAL ASHVAMEDH RIDE.
Day 2 - 28th December
So, Chandrabhan's bull was not cooperating with him, so we decided to take it to mechanic in Ratnagiri. We decided that no matter how much time it takes, but we will stick togather and move ahead towards Goa togather. Mechanic threw a bomb at us, told, there's some major work needed in the engine and he has to bring the parts from kolhapur. It will take atleast one entire day to fix it. Hmmmm, somebody came up with brilliant idea , instead of waiting in Ratnagiri , let's put the bull in Tempo and go to Goa. As better mechanics and parts are available in Goa. Another bomb came at our way, Tempo owner asked for Rs.5000/- for transportation. No way..... ! Suddenly looking at our eagerness to reach Goa , Mechanic at Ratnagiri told us, he will temporarily fix up the bull, so that it will reach Goa somehow, and then we can take it to Proper workshop. Fantastic..... still we were skeptical about it. Very bravely Mechanic swore by his god, and took responsibility , that bull will reach to Goa at any cost. Ofcourse with some precautions. Hmmm.... We decided to take this chance.Till he fixed up the bull we decided to visit Ratnagiri fort , Anoop's bed for last night. He he ! There's nothing much in the fort. Probably Marathas used this fort as watch tower.You could see Ratnagiri Jetty , clear Blue water from the fort. By that time we reached mechanic back, we already had lost lot of time, so we decided to take normal NH 17 towards Goa, instead of Coastal highway. One more thought behind taking NH17 was if, again something goes wrong in Chandra's Bull, we will have lot of mechanics and transportation along the way.
So we started our journey to Goa through NH17 Via Pawas. What a beautiful road it was. Very isolated , secluded road , with no traffic at all. As we had to move our bike slowly for Chandrabhan , Everybody started showing their skills on bikes. Somebody was standing on bike, somebody was driving with both hands in air. Fun. In the evening we stopped at Rajapur. Had our lunch at 4.00 pm. Calculated distance and time. 200 Kms more to go , and after 6.00 pm it will be drive with headlights striking your eyes from opposite direction of the road. Probably we will reach Goa at 10.00 pm. Not bad. Spirits were high ( I'm talking about moral spirits ) , so we moved on.
Next stop was Kankavli. Guys stopped just before kankavli waiting for Chandrabhan , me and Nilesh with Anoop. Meanwhile one truck kissed Ashish on his elbows. We passed them and stopped at kankavli for tea break. Heaven, what a tea ! After very long time we had such a great tea. After a brief stop for about 15 mins. We started back to Goa. Again Everybody lost each other due to heavy traffic in Kankavli. Everybody speed up , thinking that entire team is ahead. I was riding very very slow, probably it was my slowest ride ever, thinking Chandrabhan is coming behind me. For about an hour or so I was riding alone thinking I have company of Chandrabhan behind me. Then I met Nilesh on the way, and he informed me, i'm the last guy and everybody else has gone ahead. Ha Ha Ha ! That gave me license to speed up my Unicorn. I started zipping on Road for next half and hour, and caught everybody ahead just before sawantwadi. Hmmm....not bad..... 8.15 pm.... still 40 Kms to go.
Now we can see the anxiety on everybody's faces to reach Goa. Vroom Vroom.... Suddenly Anoop came and cautioned us... very seriously..... Police may catch us for checking. We all will stick togather so that we can answer queries thrown by police. Aaahhhh...... OK...let's see...... But all bikes entered Goa Roaring ...... We passed three check posts and nobody even looked at us.Pity ! Either all policemen were at sleep or we all look too good to be criminals. Ha ha ! Nobody stopped us. We entered Pernem. We could smell the sea very near to us, and wanted to get to Ashwem As soon As possible. Anoop Told us It's now just 10 Kms. Wow, after two days of hard ride, we are just 10 Kms away ... good, let's go for it. Very Smart Anoop..... Ashwem was about 20 – 22 kms away from that spot. But everybody was in hurry , and those 20 kms went under the carpet just like that. In no time we were at Ashwem.
GOA HERE WE COME ....... ONCE AGAIN. !!!!!!
First Night At Ashwem - 28th December
ok, so finally we have arrived at our destination at Goa for this year. This will be our den for next four days.
We reached the beach shacks and restaurant – Paradise ...... Right in front of sea on the beach itself. Great setting , cool wind blowing with sand under our feet. But hey, where was the buzz of other tourists ? We parked our bikes. Now there's a story attached to this parking also. Once we parked our bikes and went for shacks, Owner of the shack – Nazreth , informed Anoop that that was not parking slot for paradise and we have to move our machines to some other place , which belongs to Hotel Paradise. Hmmm...... Anoop passed the message to everybody, but after entire two days of riding and looking at the beach, I guess , nobody was in mood of touching the bikes again and park them somewhere else. Anoop got upset, Dialog was”Boss , main bhi tum log ke saath ride kiya, main bhi bike chalaya, aur tumlog abhi bhag raha hai” aaahhh..... common Anoop....... just looking at his bad mood, everybody wisely took their respective bikes and parked at the given parking lot.
Fabulous setting. Anoop had arranged the perfect stay. Ashish , Sudu , Shariq got the best shack. It was like a watch tower of life guards at some height, from where you can keep an eye on entire beach.
There were three more shacks down on beach front. First Shack went to Girls... Noor , Raullah, and Sweta, who was suppose to join us on 29th Night directly. Next shack possessed by Himanshu, Bhupesh and Prasad ( our own amplifier ) who was accompanying sweta from Mumbai. Third Shack came us, Me, Nilesh, Gauresh. All the shacks had very simple setting. One double bed and attached toilet bathroom. Nothing fancy, with just a bulb lighting up the shack. Shacks were made of coconut jute. Hey do we call it as a toilet bathroom ? A partition between bed and commode had converted it as bathroom. No doors either. So we had to do some Jugad. We tied a rope to two bamboos. And put the carpet on that rope. That was our door of bathroom. At least nobody could see whats going on inside the bathroom and on commode. Ha Ha ! Now you can hear voices and noises if bathroom is occupied. So Rule was one had to sing if he is using bathroom, to let others know that somebody is inside. A literal meaning of Bathroom singer !! Ha Ha HA Ha !
Chandrabhan and Shakti got nice room. Although it was bit away from beach, but it was actually a apartment, where they had nice bed, good proper bathroom and hot water facility.
Ok, So rooms set, we were hungry. Our guide Anoop had gone to his own house. Hmmm, we ordered food from the hotel itself. Damn..... What a pocket burner.... Roti for 20 Rs. Rice for 50 Rs. , Dal for 150 Rs. , Fried rice for 150 Rs. , Prawns curry for Rs.200 /- . By god, our stomachs felt full just by eating this shock of food prices. Way too costly. Only thing which was within budget was Chilled beer. And in Goa what else you need ? Sea , Sand and Chilled beer. So food and beer ordered , after looking at pricey food, nobody dared to leave a single piece of their food the plate. Guys were hungry also, so food was finished within minutes. KINGS !!!
Nobody had any strength left to keep awake , so all decided to bid Good night and resort to respective Shacks. GOOD NIGHT GOA !!
First Morning at GOA - 29th December
GOOD MORNING GOAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!!
This is the first time we were looking at the sun at Ashwem. Lovely Blue see, Clear white sand..... and topless Russian babes, sun bathing. WOW.... what else can you ask for ? A cup of coffee ... double egg and bread. Don't worry guys ... Chilled beer will follow after half an hour. HA HA !! Everybody took their own time in waking up, but I was up early, to see the actual place. Where are we exactly at. Two hotels were adjusant to our Hotel. There was one more exclusive Russian hotel located on small hill kind of place. Main Ashwem beach is small , but it's subsidiaries which are equally beautiful stretched for about 2 kms at each side. Benches were put up for sun bathers by respective hotels for their customers. I thought I would be first person so see Ashwem beach in sun light, but once I reached there, Noor and Raullah were already there having coffee. After some chit chat with them, Ashish , Shaiq, Sudu, Nilesh, Gauresh joined us. Anoop was not present here as he has his home at Siolem and probably had FULL PAAWAR party at night with his childhood friends. And then he was with our Naughty Professor in Mhapusa to repair Professor's sick bull.
Ok, so this breakfast was also a pocket burner ..... Remember only affordable thing ? Yeah KING'S BEER. Had few beers ! Now what ?
We decided to go to Arambol , where we stayed last year. It was about 1.00 pm, so we thought about having lunch at our favorite Restaurant “ Vrindavan ” .. at Mandrem. This is very small restaurant with beer bar. It easily can be passed out as some sidy bar from mumbai bylanes. But believe me, this joint has the best food, probably thats the authentic Goan food. And rates .... u have 100 bucks and you get stomach full of yummy food and one beer .... CHILLED BEER ! Delicious fried Fish, Prawns curry , and Then real appetizer cum digestive called Sol Kadhi. Yummy !! Almost perfect. Noor actually enjoyed the spices and goan food taste, but little Roullah, Girl who lives on solar energy, could not eat spicy food, so she ordered for cheese sandwich and veg salad. What a pity. You come to the land of fish food and spices and you can just eat breads with cheese. But thats what she could eat. And we all were relieved to see her eating atleast something. So, while we were having food , Ashish got a call from Mumbai. A good news from Career front. Got Job in one International School. Great ! Congrats ! Here comes Michelle ... our host at Aramol last year. This guy used to run a Shack resort called “Tarzania” at Arambol beach till last year, but unfortunately this year could not extend the contract and that made us land in Ashwem. Very nice guy. Actually he is been friends with Ashish for lot of years now, and thats how we all knew him. Ok, again few nostalgic moments !! never mind.
So We all decided to head to Arambol beach. Ashish went with Michelle to relive his old golden days , while we decided to spend time on beach. What to do ? Brilliant Idea. We had Artist with us , Gauresh. Let's make a sand Structure. But What ? Nilesh will look good buried under sand, won't he ? HA HA ! So We all started running around looking for some tools, so that we can dig a place to bury Nilesh to his waist. Sand dug done of about 2 feet deep, so that Nilesh could sleep in it and his upper body would remain above the ground. While we were digging the sand, Raullah kept playing in Water , while Noor was helping us digging. Himanshu donned role of a photographer and kept on clicking beauties at Arambol. Shariq with his cam and brilliant ideas , kept on clicking pictures which can be easily be passed as voyeur pics. Ok, so now Nilesh was inside a ditch to his waist, Garesh started forming a structure of a Octopus around him. And we all were started helping him, smoothening the octopus arms. Bhupesh got great tool to level the sand, Shariq's chappals. We were doing this work at utmost religiously, so enthusiastically that in no time it had started attracting few foreigners , who wanted to click pictures of our masterpiece. Nilesh to SALA STAR ( FISH ) BAN GAYA !! HA HA !
While we were creating this Octopus, our Octopus ( Nilesh ) was smoking cigarettes.SMOKING OCTOPUS ! Done ! Structure finished. Time to photograph it. I made gauresh stand on my shoulders and asked him to click pictures. Superb !
Shakti again went missing. Ummm.... His clothes were with us... but he was missing. Raullah informed us that this guy went running to other side of beach in his undies. WOW. We sat there for some time waiting for shakti and ashish to come back. Ashish came back, not no Shakti. Shariq and Sudu stayed back ( Sometimes I think that these guys are incarnation of lord vishu and Sheshnag , you just can't separate them ) . Ok, so after clicking a sunset we decided to take a look at Arambol Market. This market is a good place to pass time, but buying anything is not worth. Everything is expensive, keeping Firang customers in mind. And shop owners , matter of fact Locals also do not respect Indian tourists at all. I really failed to understand why, b'coz Indian tourist pay as much as these firangs do. Moreover I have seen firangs doing bargaining , while poor indian customers buy at the same price told to them. Why this discrimination ? A serious topic desire lot of discussion , so may be next time. While we were at market, Ashish went to mountains to watch sunset. We again gathered at one place. Thankfully shakti was with us again, and this dude was guzzling beer at one restaurant. Ok, time to head back to Ashwem, at our Den.
On the way, we all had our food. Did not want to burn our pockets so regularly. So We had a local food at some local joint. Back to Ashwem Beach. First day has gone great, but what about Night ?
We had enough arsenal in our store to light up the night. We had our own drummerboy SUDU with us with his bongo. Perfect setting once again. Full stomachs , chilled beers and sudu with bongo. Let's go !
We started singing hindi songs . Time for me to Donn the role of lead singer. I have no qualms in admitting that i'm not a better singer than any bathroom singer , but beats by sudu brings out the singer. Gradually everybody joined us. Remember the Russian club ? Every night they had their own DJ with them, but we were so loud and probably with full of life , that few of those Russian guests also joined our group. A gentleman from Canada , Kim Sturdy , musician himself also joined us. It took almost three days to make Raullah comfortable, but she was and it was evident, b'coz she started dancing on our songs. She had some fabulous moves of belly dancing. KHOOB JAMEGI MEHFIL, JAB MIL BAITHENGE TEEN YAAR, AAP MAIN AUR RAULLAH !! HA HA !! oh, forgot to mention a special guest we had that night, a local person, actually from Nepal, Kept on asking us to sing punjabi gana. “Humko PONJAABI GANA Sunao , Nahi to Hom PAAISA Nahi Dega “ ha ha ! Suddenly he started singing some nepali song. Some Mahakali. He just knew one line of the song, Some MAHAKAALI, and He kept on repeating it. HE HE HE HE HE !! Funny guy and Sudu got scared as he approached him for song, and started playing his bongo louder. “HUMKO PONJAABI GANA SUNAO” We were like possessed souls. We kept on singing till 2.30 am. Right on beach.
We are done , tired. Actually our throats passed out. So decided to bid GOOD NIGHT !
While we were sleeping, Nilesh , Gauresh , Anoop , Shakti Went to Railway station to receive Sweta and Prasad. Brought them to Ashwem beach where we were staying.
Day 2 at Goa - 30th December
So all woke up and had cup of coffee in our Paradise , while Noor and Raullah , Joined Russian babes in Sun Bathing. Got call from Anoop, our guiding light in Goa, We were up and going to Palolem beach, about 110 kms away from Mhapusa. Alright, if Anoop has suggested Palolem, Let's visit Palolem. 110 Kms ? BIG DEAL ! We all got ready. At 11.45 Anoop met us at Siolem bridge ( That was our meeting point with Anoop for next three days ). All bikes started running towards Palolem. Professor's Bull was at garage in Mhapusa , so he was pillion with me. Prasad was pillion to Gauresh and Sweta accommodated herself with Nilesh. Palolem is almost on the border of Goa and Karnataka, Near to Karvar. So we started our ride to Palolem,via Panjim. Once you leave panjim behind and enter interiors of Goa, it's almost a heaven. The typical setting of villages. Rice fields, palm trees, local working in cashew gardens, mountains, mango trees, greenery all around. That typical smell of burning and smoke from villages. What are we doing in cities guys ? This is the real life amidst nature and clear sky. This setting almost made me Mungeri Lal, and I started day dreaming. One day I'll also have a small house in a place like this, where , there is no noise , no pollution , with my family, peaceful life. WOW, hey, Professor brought me to reality ...... “ DHEERE CHALA ... GADI DHEERE CHALA”. Thanx Professor.
We almost crossed 90 Kms, still we could not see any direction billboard for Palolem. Ummm, now we started wondering is Anoop taking us in right direction ? B'coz if Palolem beach is so famous and beautiful, there has to be some mention about the name. After trying hard, we could not see the word Palolem. The more we near the place , the more we started suspecting Anoop's sense of direction. “SORRY ANOOP BHAI..... FULL PAAWAR”. We stopped at one local hotel on our way to have lunch, and suddenly realized that now Palolem beach is called as Canacona beach. SORRY ANOOP BHAI ... once again.
Somewhere I had read about Palolem beach once as very isolated and beautiful beach. We Reached Palolem, and suddenly all imaginations about isolated beach came shattering down. Probably, Palolem market is the biggest market we have seen on beach front , in Goa. It's not at all isolated beach and it's highly commercial place. Never mind, we entered Palolem beach , what the heck. Anoop made us ride 110 kms to see Juhu Chawpati ? Not done. SORRY ANOOP BHAI again. The front end of Palolem beach is just like any other commercial beach like Calangut. But we kept on walking at the right end of the beach and saw a beauty. Nature has given lot to this beach. B'coz of mountains and marshy land, this beach has created backwaters. Entire area is surrounded by mountains and small rocks. I don't know , consciously or unconsciously we all were wearing Ashvamedh Tshirts, and when we were walking on the beach, I was feeling like a army of knights walking conquering the new land. Ummm, Good feeling ! Few firangs were having drinks at the bar near to back waters. They were surprised to see we ashvas coming from mumbai / pune to Goa to Palolem on our bikes. We were busy shooting and posing for our official photographer Shariq. It was so scenic place to be in, that we had to pose at our best for our upcoming website. Beer Guzzlers – Shakti & Gauresh had their CHILLED BEERS while Noor and Raullah decided to opt for some more sun bathing. Master Anoop Again told us, we are going to the fort near Palolem to see the sun set. He told us that during maratha kingdom this place was used as punishment tower. This was Maratha kingdom's last fort before Karnataka. And he also had some story for spirits possessing this place. Quiet possible. But entire set up did not look like maratha fort to me. So I decided to do some research. This fort is called Fort Cabo de Rama, which is suppose to be resting place for Lord Rama during his exile days. And then used by Portuguese as a watch tower. But It's again possible that this place could be the hanging place for prisoners , to fix up their appointment with Lord Rama , b'coz in the entire fort, there is nothing, except a church and few broken barracks , which could have been used as prisons. Anyway, we had targeted sunset at the fort, and we tried to race against the time and sun. I pleaded to mighty sun, not to go down, till we reach, but he was too adamant, and we could not witness sunset at fort Cabo de Rama.
We started our journey back to Ashwem, at about 6.30 pm. Night Drive ...... Everybody was lost from each other. But somehow everybody reached Mhapusa safe and sound. Good Lord.... My hamstring pulled , I could not event move my leg. Bad pain. Almost 9.30 in the night. Anoop went with Professor to get his bull. It's in good condition now, and Professor is a happy man. Back to Ashwem with Quota of Liquor.
So, Night has fallen , everybody had arranged for their own food and liquor. All were tired after riding for about 250 Kms. From Ashwem to Palolem and back. Nothing like a CHILLED BEER ! HE HE !
Everybody got freshened up and sat outside of our shacks with our Daru in our hand. Noor who works as a marketing professional in Lebanon. Raullah is trained media person and wants to make career in Lebanese TV. So with our Daaru, we had great subjects to discuss. Ashish Started with business proposal in Goa with Noor. He made Noor Interested in taking up the tourism business in goa, with explanation of finer business points. Professor Chandra Pitched in with his serious ideas and suggestions. Meanwhile Raullah was looking lost in the entire discussion. So I started to talk about media, entertainment in India. She started with the story from their side. So eventually I dragged everybody in that discussion and soon it became a political and social and religious analyzing session. Two pegs down and politics on platter, Perfect situation for me to pitch it with my genius. ( Guys with all the modesty I would like to admit that I have fair bit of knowledge of world politics, atleast to that extend, till I can impress two Lebanese girls. He He ! ) Two pegs certainly puts me in the row with Winston Churchill and Barak Obama. Ha ha, and I become greatest philosopher on political scenario. But I guess Both Lebanese girls got impressed with my knowledge of Lebanese politics and social scene. Political thoughts turned into Religious philosophy. Gita Gyan got related to Osho philosophy. Professor was tired and can not hold on any more. I guess, he was high also, tiredness and vodka had taken it's toll. He retired to his room. We kept exchanging thought for about hour or more. Raullah out. Noor , Me, Prasad, Sweta kept on batting. I had bad pain in my leg, so Raullah extended her help and tried some reiki therapy. Good gesture ! Appreciated. Himanshu also tried some finger therapy and it was also a appreciable effort. Ok, so time for me to get retired hurt. Others kept on batting , I don't till what time. I was getting prepared to welcome the last day of year 2008.
31st December 2008
Here came the last day of year 2008. How fast days have gone by ! I woke up in the morning, and felt that , I was in Arambol few days back. Infact we were in Arambol exactly 364 days back. It has become tradition for us, that we ride to Goa every year. But this year this trip had it's own significance. We all were desperately get out off Mumbai to relive our lives. Far away from News channels , who were crying too loudly about Mumbai terror attacks, 24 x 7. Not done. We been through that horrific experience. Few people had lost their near and dear ones. Few of our friends fought those animals bravely. 200 innocent people had lost their lives. But these news channels had made life more miserable after the attacks. They did not let the wounds heal. They virtually had hold us hostage to the situation. We wanted to live our life , with due respect to all the people who lost their lives and all the brave martyrs. What a turbulent year that was. Mumbai experienced the cold like never before. Had few bomb blasts. Inflation was it's highest. Stock market falling down like a pack of cards, and recession hit Indian shore at the end of year. People running around helter skelter with great job insecurity. When do we live our own life ?
I was with these mixed feelings and hoping that this eve will end the bad spell and new year will come up with new opportunities and positive energy. Enough Gyan ! So went to hotel restaurant and ordered for a coffee. Common guys... wait for another half an hour for CHILLED BEER ! As usual Noor and Raullah had already joined Sun bathing Russian chicks. Naughty Professor and me were having our coffee. Nobody was up till the time. Yesterday's long ride to Palolem must have taken it's toll. Anoop called. ( I tell you, this guy always has some plans in store ) Informed us , we are going to Anjuna, Flee market. Ummm, not a bad idea at all. Last year we missed this market. Let's go. But other guys had different ideas. Shariq, Sudu prefered to get some rest, Gauresh , Shakti planned to spend time at Arambol ( I really suspect that Shakti has some hidden interest in this place , common Shakti share your secrets now ) Ashish decided to visit his friends at Vaghator. Me, Professor, Himanshu, Bhupesh, Noor, Raullah, Prasad, Sweta decided to visit flee market at Anjuna. As usual we met Anoop at Siolem Bridge. And instead of taking us to Anjuna from there, he took a left turn and first took us to a place, which I would safely call as the best place I had seen in Goa. It was a river bed. Chapora River. Am I right Anoop ? Few house boats were floating in the river. River surrounded by green hills. At one side a village was located with huge coconut farms. Small kids were looking at us enthusiastically , while Prasad, Himanshu, Bhupesh were trying their hands at driving in coconut farms, in Amitabh Style. Little Raullah preferred to seat quietly under one tree and enjoy the surroundings. Thanx Anoop !
Back to Anjuna. It was a mad traffic on the road of Anjuna. Firangs with their hired bulls and scooters driving like crazy. Sometimes its very scary, specially when you see half of those firang riders wounded & bleeding after crashing their bikes. Anyway, we were not in rush, so we drove towards Anjuna in total formation. We reach Anjuna. MY GOD ! I couldn't believe it . Is that you call a flee market ? It was Huge HUGE HUGE ! Probably thousand and Thousands of vehicles were parked in front of the market. This market had everything, from Buddha bar CDs to Pipes used for Smoking Marijuana. Entire range of clothing, bags, jewellery's , paintings, artifacts, everything. If you want to see this market in and out, I think you need atleast three days. But we had just three hours in our hand. Anyway, we decided to make most of it. First thing First. CHILLED BEER ! Ha ha ! There was some restaurant located on hill, right in front of Sea. They were playing some Jazz music. Who cares. I missed Sudu here, he would have swept all the guests away with his drums. Those guys were swaying to the tunes of crap jazz , and I was thinking about real music by our own Drummerboy. Ok, So Beer , cocktails, food ordered. Surprise again , Little Raullah again had some food. Food was also nice, and in that setting it was tasting even better than prepared. Mad Rush !
One more plan from Anoop. Let's visit Fort Augoda and watch sun set from there. Noor, Raullah, Himanshu , Bhupesh, Prasad, Sweta agreed. I had to take my bike to Mhapusa to mechanic. I wanted to clear few doubts about the bike, and wanted to be sure that it will be with me till I reach back home. So me and Professor decided to head back to Ashwem via mhapusa. Naughty professor sometimes gets witty and slapy too. While our way back, we entered one shop to buy some clothes. There were two firangs also shopping. They asked for some Top, and lady shop owner told them the price Rs.200/- . This Firang Lady spitted venom, and said, “I would rather give those 200 Rs. To your child “ This statement made our professor angry and showing his ability at spitting even dangerous venom ( after all King cobra is found in India only ) , He replied back “ Excuse me, Indian Child is not so cheap ” “ Joke also has it's limit , and you should not cross the line ” .... I was just looking at that firang lady's expressions, and she was looking like a naked monkey in the street who just had two slap sticks on her ass. HA HA ! Bravo Professor ! This attitude makes us Indian. We are proud of what we are and how we are. Doesn't matter which language we speak, nobody dares to insults us.
Ok, we headed back to Ashwem, after brief check up of my bike at Mhapusa. We reached Ashwem. “Ek CHILLED BEER Aane do”. Again got call from Anoop. Party is planned at Vagha beach to welcome new year. Next destination – CLUB 9. hmmm..... ok , guys let's ride back. Professor was too tired to ride the bike again, so he decided to stay back in ashwem. Time was almost 6.00 pm. We saw sea in front of us , gulping the sun for the last time in 2008. I just can't put that feeling in words. We were looking at the sun going down on 2008 for the last time from our den at Ashwem. I felt so connected with everybody. Guys who were at Arambol , at Vaghtor, at Augoda ,at Mumbai , probably everybody was watching that last sun set of 2008. Although we were not togather for the moment , still we all were close. We all were witnessing the same scene at the same time from different places. I'm sure Our friends , Ujjwal, Kunal who could not make to Goa, their hearts were also with us in Goa, while watching the sun going down.Our families & Friends also must be looking at the same sun setting down for the last time in 2008. We all were togather at that sun set.
CLUB 9 – We reached Club 9 to celebrate new year. There was no much rush at the party scene, which was expected. Anoop, Prasad, Sweta, Noor, Raullah, Himanshu, Bhupesh, Nilesh, Gauresh, Shakti, Shriq, Sudu , myself all present. Good, Ashish was suppose to join the party little later with his friends. DJ was playing Trance music , which I thought was little thanda. I think Trance goes well with some Marijuana. Otherwise it's like simple musical notes. I was a hurt soldier with one leg was totally gone by that time. So could not dance. But slowly guys gathered momentum and started swaying to the tunes. Noor, was her at bubbliest best. Little Raullah has some Unique dance steps of her own. And she keeps swaying on those steps. Sudu had given that dance a funny name “Lungi Uthake dance”. She hold on one end of her skirt lifts a bit, one hand in air swaying, and moves her waist like a grinding stone. Round and round ! Ha ha, this is the best I can describe that dance guys !
Real appreciation goes to entire group for how they guarded all the girls of our group from some dirty pervert rowdy local guys. All guys really handled the situation very very maturely and tactically. Bhupesh had his own way of dealing with these guys. He Started dancing rowdy and kept on kicking the guys at his back, like ass kicks. He he ! Few local guys were at their pervertest best. HA HA ! Gauresh was dancing with his hairs down, and place was dimly lit , so these guys tought some girl is dancing and started approaching Gauresh. One guy , I guess event asked him, if they can have sex ... HA AHA ! And we all were looking that one guy , who was fast approaching gauresh, dancing very near to him, and we all started laughing at one go. Loudly. Told him.... “ABE , WOH LADKA HAI”
HAHA , his face was like , red face monkey, I should have clicked his face. HA HA HA !
One guy came towards Noor... Happy new year ..... Happy New Year..... at 11.30 pm. HAHA ! I took him to side, showed him watch, Boss it's almost half an hour to go. Why to trouble that lady ? Don't worry, I'll wish her happy new year on your behalf , once it's 12.00 . OK ? Funny !
10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3- 2 – 1 – 0........... HAPPY NEW YEAR ! Finally 2009 has arrived with all the hopes and all the fireworks. May this year brings prosperity and all the happyness to everybody's life. We all hugged each other ( don't get jealous .. yes we hugged Noor and Raullah and Sweta also )
Ok, so one more beer down, and we decided to get out off the club at about 1.30 am. Club owner asked us to stay back till 6.00 am, but we had enough by then. Bye bye CLUB 9 , we will meet next year !
We were hungry , and I spotted Omlet pav vendor out side of Club 9. Not bad. Let's eat something. WHOA...... Can you imagine price for Omlet pav ...... Rs.40/- HA HAHA HAHAHA AHA HA ! Maaro salo, hamari hi Maaro !
Next plan was to visit Hill Top New Year Party. Looking at the local rowdy crowd , lot of us , decided to go back to Ashwem. Me, Prasad, Gauresh and Shakti decided to visit Hill top. Hmmmm , this party was huge man. Decent crowd. Good. We approached main entry. BOMB..... ENTRY FEE RS.1500/- Dead ducks man. Me and Prasad were not ready to pay , so we decided to return back. But Looking at Shakti and Gauresh, they were determined to get inside. By hook or by crook. Shakti Used his military training at it's fullest and also included Gauresh in the conspiracy and they both decided to do gate crashing. I was not present at the scene. So just writing down , what we heard from both of them, and how they did the adventure on the first morning of new year. They scaled a tree, which was located at the back side of club. From there, after ensuring that nobody was looking at them, they ascended on a tin roof of that club. And then jumped inside, scratched and wounded. Gauresh had some injury on his right palm. So very royally they used Blender's pride whiskey as antiseptic. WOW ! Gauresh's palm must have got drunk ! He he ! Quiet an adventure.
Me and Prasad headed back to Ashwem. While coming back, we again carried some more liquor to spend remaining night. We reach Ashwm at about 2.45 am , by then, everybody was in their beds. Me , Prasad, Sweta were sitting out side of our shack. Here came two Knights. Shakti and Gauresh ! Wounded but elated ! PROUDE TO BE A GATE CRASHER ! Ha ha ! That inspired Prasad also, and again these guys went to gate crash one more party happening very near to our den. I forgot to mention one more Chori Chori Adventure by Shakti and Gauresh. While these guys were busy gate crashing, somebody else was busy in Dhapofying Gauresh Helmet. So, when they came out off club, they noticed, Expensive Helmet gone. Hmmmm..... Not done. It's a custom for any person , who has spent his life in Army school , college, that whatever happens , total has to be completed. If something goes out off my itinerary , something else has to replace it. I know this rule personally, so obviously Shakti also follows the same rule. Shakti went for hunting for new helmet in parking lot, and got another of somebody else for Gauresh. We are proud of you Shakti !! If my estimate is not wrong, There were about 400 bikes parked at that time. That means in that very night about 400 Helmets got exchanged. HA HA HA !! Iska Helmet Uske Sar !
Ok, It's about 4.30 am. Time to bid adieu and go to bed. GOOD NIGHT ... errr..... GOOD MORNING.....errrr..... Whatever !
1st January 2009
Our Last day at Ashwem. We landed at Ashwem on 28th Dec. and now its 1st Jan. Hmmm.... Days just flew by. Time to organise return journey. Time to do some packing.
Morning Coffee ! Wait guys..... CHILLED BEER would be here in Next half an hour. Noor & Raullah Sun Bathing with Russian Chicks. Ehh..... nothing has changed much.... just the date. Ok, so whats the program ? Professor joined. He informed Shakti finished his party at 9.00 am and has just gone to room. NOT BAD !! He enjoyed the party scene the best. Ok, gradually, all had joined for coffee. What to Do ? “Vrindavan” Let's go there, let's have lunch, come back and decide, what to do. Noor , Himanshu, Raullah, Bhupesh decided to taste the food in some other eateries. No problem. We like Vrindavan , we would eat there ! Fish Fry, Chicken Xacuti, CHILLED BEER , Fried Prawns, Chapati, Rice, Sol Kadhi... Thats what I call heaven.
Guys assembled at Ashwen Paradise. FULL PAAWAR .... Anoop told us that he would now part his way with us for moment and spend time with his loved ones. Fair enough ! Being a talkative person and an orator honors came to me to deliver vote of thanx to Anoop and to team members who made this trip successful. Done ! Everybody had their thoughts and experiences , which they shared and which will make this group even more organized. Professor asked Noor, how she felt about the Group , very obvious answer came “ AWESOME” .... Very modestly, we are , No doubt ! Raullah preferred to stay mum.
I invented one dialog in this trip “ Hisab aur Pisab ... Dono clear hona chahiye, nahi to pet kharab hota hai !” ( WAH WAH..... Pat on my back ) So Hisab done, accounts settled. Very Important thing yet to be finalised ... Route back. Thought came out we should ride back home in one day. IT's just 600 odd kilometers. Few suggestions came No, we should brake this journey in two days, and lets' explore another way back to mumbai. Fair Enough ! After some confusion and heated discussion Himashu and Bhupesh Informed us , that they will ride back to Pune separately from different Road. Confusion was still there, as how our Lebanese guest will travel back. Probably Ashish had solved the riddle , and Two girls decided to stay back in Goa for one more day and then proceed to Pune. It's there decision. Time for Shakti to leave for Rajasthan. He bid Good bye to us with warm hugs. Hmmm......
Once the route and timing finalised , few guys went to Mhapusa market to buy things like Cashew nuts and Feni, and Wine. While although my leg was hurting badly, I decided to play some vollyball with Russians ( not babes.... babas ) and give them lesson or two in volleyball.
Last Night at Ashwem :
Night has fallen. Our last night at Goa for this year. Let's celebrate it. CHILLED BEER PlZ ! Ha ha ! Sudu came out with his Bongo, our new friend from Canada Kim Sturdy Came with his guitar. Jam session ! Great Idea ! Gauresh also tried his hands at Kim's Guitar. Probably Gauresh was scared to touch that guitar, because he was not playing the strings, he was scratching the strings. What would I do ? I started making noise of glasses and bottles. Common guys ... anything goes in Jam Session. HE HE ! Pure Magic ! Kim is a good musician, so is our Sudu. Time to have food . We invited Kim for food. On dinner table , already four pegs down, I started giving Gyan to Kim, about Indian Life Style. How we spend our life. “We live our life as son , Then as Husband / Wife and then as Parent, We rarely live our life as an individual.” WOW.... what a thought... it happens guys after four pegs. Sudu was giving spiritual gyan to Noor about mythology and lord shiva. Professor , Ashish were busy talking to Raullah. 12.30 am. We will leave Ashwem , Goa 5.30 am tomorrow morning. Bid Good bye and GOOD NIGHT to Everybody. Journey back to home will start tomorrow.
GOOD NIGHT GOA !!!!!
